


Kuyashii

by soniagiris



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Death, Depressing, Experimental Style, Gen, Heavy Angst, Injury, Major Character Injury, No Dialogue, References to Depression, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 02:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13378692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soniagiris/pseuds/soniagiris
Summary: failure (ˈfeɪljə/), noun: lack of success; the neglect or omission of expected or required action.





	Kuyashii

**Author's Note:**

>   * **additional warnings in the end notes!**
>   * beta'ed by star @dunyazad and vee @ikuzonos, thank you m'guys...
> 


Something— something's wrong, Akira's almost sure of it, but there's the  _ almost.  _ But there's also how Fox keeps back after Madarame's Shadow falls to his knees, begging and groveling as Joker pries the Sayuri out of his hands, promising him that the hell will come, does he not confess. Then they're talking about the black mask, the intruder, and Akira's mind moves to that issue, the unease forgotten. 

Panther says, we need to go,  _ now,  _ the Palace is falling apart, and Skull swears under his nose as he tugs on Fox, says he needs to get a grip on himself, it's time to jet. Akira notices that, too, he's the leader, he prides himself on noticing a lot, and he tells Skull to let the guy be, and then they're running. Just like before, when they defeated Kamoshida, they run out of the Palace, back to where they jumped in, and then they're back in the real world, out of breath and flushed.

But — it couldn't be the same as before. It couldn't. It's not. When Akira takes stock of his allies, his dread returns with full force — and on that exact second he sees Yusuke crumple, like a paper cut-out on the wind, wide-eyed and with one hand clutching his side. Ryuji curses, again, and belatedly tries to catch him, hold him up, but he doesn't make it, and Akira barely has the time to set Sayuri down before joining him, Ann and Morgana hot on his heels.

Oh, Yusuke says with detached daze, and Akira sees red slipping through his fingers where they clamp the cotton of his shirt, a few centimeters below his heart. White, the fabric used to be white, but it isn't. Akira's shocked gaze fixates on it. Ann shakes her head, her brows tightly knit together, whispers, but I used a Dia on you, I did, so why, and then Yusuke adds that there was a physical attack by the end of the battle, did she forget? The teeth. Piercing, sharper than anything natural to this realm, Akira recalls and bites on his lip. Their bite hurt a lot. 

We need to get back to the Metaverse, Morgana orders. We still have some healing items. But the Palace is gone, so we need to get actual help, Akira says and goes to pull out his phone, but Yusuke stops him, hands him his own phone (his skin is cold where it meets Akira's) and says, use mine instead, just in case. His expression is calmer, now, and the patch of scarlet on his shirt grows, keeps growing. Ryuji gets up and says, first we need to get inside, what if that reporter girl found us. Akira nods and pulls Yusuke up, making him gasp in pain, and both of them apologize at the same time. It's much easier to enter the house than Akira would've liked, with how light Yusuke is, but he doesn't speak up on that. After they put him down, the wall he briefly leaned on is smudged with red.

And the redness expands. As Ann calls the ambulance (says, my name is… Ann Suzui, and I saw this guy, I don't know his name, but he was bleeding, is still bleeding, maybe he was stabbed), Akira crouches down and accepts the roll of bandages from Ryuji, presses it against the wound. He catches Yusuke's eye and asks, can you stay awake. I'm not sure, Yusuke replies, and his voice is still calm, and then he lets out a chuckle, a weak one that turns into a fit of coughs, and  _ then  _ he says that it's proper. What are you talking about, Morgana hisses out, and Yusuke shakes his head with a self-deprecating smile. This is a proper closure, he says, meeting Akira's eyes with determination burning bright on his paling face. I was Sensei's ultimate work of art, he says, and I find it apt that, with his distortions gone, I will perish as well. 

Fuck that, Ryuji says, you're not going to die, dude, no way in hell. The ambulance will be here in ten minutes, Ann throws in, I don't think they really believed me, but you can hold on, right? Akira looks down and sees that the makeshift compress is already soaked through with blood. It feels warm. That's when the fear starts to set in.

How long has it been since you knew, he asks, barely able to move his lips. When Yusuke answers, his voice is quiet, so quiet and tired and faraway. A while, he says, but I thought it was a superficial injury. Well, I was incorrect. As always. And he laughs again, and fights for his breath again. He has trouble keeping his eyes open, Akira notices and requests, stay with us, please, just a bit longer. You can do this. Just hold on.

His voice trembles. Yusuke looks at him, just that, without any recognition nor emotion, and then his expression relaxes. His eyes flutter closed. Morgana nudges him, says, wake up, Fox, but he doesn't. His chest moves with a breath, then another. And then it's still.  _ He's  _ still.

Fuck, Ann says with a feeling, wiping at her angry tears. Akira slowly, delicately moves away and hears himself declare, we need to go. No way we're, Ryuji begins, but Akira repeats, we need to leave. Leave  _ him,  _ but he doesn't say that, and for no reason thinks about the Sayuri he left outside. And he doesn't say, I'm sorry for failing you.

And then they go on their way.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> a/n
> 
>   * **additional warnings: violence mentions; death ideation,** spoilers up to june.
>   * **please comment/kudo if you read/liked.** listen. i'm so starved for validation that i got a wattpad. a fucking wattpad. i already saw way too many self-insert rpfs.
>   * [title inspiration!](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSJd0lLVwAAPqn-.jpg)
>   * fun fact: before i ended up writing [this fic here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11598375), i wanted my first p5 fic to be kinda like this one, with yusuke getting mortally wounded during the madarame boss battle. but i ended up scrapping that idea and writing some nice depression fluff. but! but. a few days ago, i saw [this fanart](https://twitter.com/ronkitci/status/950400958709690368) and fucking lost my shit. those of you who follow me on twitter were witnesses of that, i was yelling and crying - and ended up writing this *waves my hand upright* ficlet thingy.
>   * yeah, it's hella short, but what can you do. if i write a few more >1k long p5 fics, i'm gonna make a series (kinda like [this one](http://archiveofourown.org/series/640304)) where i put all my shorter fics. we'll see.
>   * also, if you're interested  - i listened to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yqt97jNt7Y) when writing. what can i say, lis:bts has some hella tunes. 
>   * thank you for reading! if you wanna talk, hit me up at my twitter/tumblr (links in the profile)! c:
> 



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